LAWSON, HENRY

LAWSON, HENRY – The Wattle

I saw it in the days gone by,
When the dead girl lay at rest,
And the wattle and the native rose
We placed upon her breast.

I saw it long ago
(And I’ve seen strong men die),
And who, to wear the wattle,
Hath better right than I?

I’ve fought it through the world since then,
And seen the best and worst,
But always in the lands of men
I held Australia first.

LAWSON, HENRY - The Wattle

LAWSON, HENRY

And the sun sank again on the grand Australian bush – the nurse and tutor of eccentric minds, the home of the weird, and of much that is different from things in other lands.

LAWSON, HENRY

LAWSON, HENRY

For the sons of all Australia, they were born to conquer fate –
And, where charity and friendship are sincere,
Where sinner is a brother, and a stranger is a mate,
There the future of a nation is written clear.

LAWSON, HENRY

LAWSON, HENRY

I’ve never seen anyone rehabilitated by punishment.

LAWSON, HENRY

LAWSON, HENRY

We shall never be understood or respected by the English until we carry our individuality to extremes, and by asserting our independence, become of sufficient consequence in their eyes to merit a closer study than they have hitherto accorded us.

LAWSON, HENRY

LAWSON, HENRY – Waratah and Wattle

Australia! Australia! so fair to behold –
While the blue sky is arching above;
The stranger should never have need to be told,
That the Wattle-bloom means that her heart is of gold,
And the Waratah’s red with her love.

LAWSON, HENRY - Waratah and Wattle

LAWSON, HENRY

It is quite time that our children were taught a little more about their country, for shame’s sake.

LAWSON, HENRY

LAWSON, HENRY – Waratah And Wattle

Though poor and in trouble I wander alone,
With a rebel cockade in my hat;
Though friends may desert me, and kindred disown,
My country will never do that!
You may sing of the Shamrock, the Thistle, and Rose,
Or the three in a bunch if you will;
But I know of a country that gathered all those,
And I love the great land where the Waratah grows,
And the Wattle bough blooms on the hill.

LAWSON, HENRY - Waratah And Wattle